Book Review: "Seeing Things" by Patti Hill

Birdie Wainwright, 72, isn’t concerned about seeing things that others can’t. For a woman who still climbs mountains with her dog (Miss Bee Haven) and likes to tango, the impractical visions brought on by macular degeneration are just another gift from God, adding more adventure to life. But when a tumble down the stairs breaks her ankle and leads back to her son’s home in Denver where she must convalesce, Birdie’s imagination really takes flight. Following a conversation with her grandson about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, she begins to see and speak with the unkempt literary character himself on a regular basis. As the line between reality and whimsy turns brittle, faith is tested among friends and loved ones, and hope is reborn.

Seeing Things is a story about family, reconciliation, and hearing from God in unexpected ways. - from Amazon.com

I am not a big fan of Christian Fiction, though, I have come across a few that have a good story without feeling like the religious part is being forced on the reader. This is one of those books, that don't force it on you, but make it clear that it is there. I enjoyed the author's way of sharing the story, as a first-person view, as if they were sitting down and telling you face to face (plus added details like exact conversations, etc.). The main character has AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration) which I know nothing about, except how it is described in the book. I found it a bit odd that there was as much detail regarding the settings, since the person supposedly had a 'gray cloud' centered in their vision constantly. Either way, this character eventually has a hallucination (for lack of better word) that they interact with several times throughout the time frame of the story. Why it Huck Finn, I only guess due to events in the story (read it and you will see what I mean).

Character development was a bit lacking, and sometimes I felt I couldn't tell why the author included certain events that happened - as in I felt it did not help any for the story, but word count only. Clean, decent read for anyone looking for a general fiction quick read.

Book Review: "Indigo Springs" by A. M. Dellamonica

Indigo Springs is a sleepy town where things seem pretty normal . . . until Astrid’s father dies and she moves into his house. She discovers that for many years her father had been accessing the magic that flowed, literally, in a blue stream beneath the earth, leaking into his house. When she starts to use the liquid "vitagua" to enchant everyday items, the results seem innocent enough: a “’chanted” watch becomes a charm that means you're always in the right place at the right time; a “’chanted” pendant enables the wearer to convince anyone of anything . . .

But as events in Indigo Springs unfold and the true potential of vitagua is revealed, Astrid and her friends unwittingly embark on a journey fraught with power, change, and a future too devastating to contemplate. Friends become enemies and enemies become friends as Astrid discovers secrets from her shrouded childhood that will lead her to a destiny stranger than she could have imagined . . . - from Amazon.com

I just couldn't get into this one. The synopsis of the story sounded good, but after getting about halfway through the book, I was having a hard time keeping my attention focused (much like the lead character). I am not sure if it was just my mood when trying to read this, or the way the author wrote, that made me feel like I was reading something a grade-schooler wrote. Literally, it gave me a headache. I do admit, that I do like the idea of the story, but just couldn't deal with the writing style.

Book Review: "Juggernaut" by Adam Baker

THEY SEARCHED FOR GOLD. THEY FOUND DEATH.

           

Iraq 2005. Seven mercenaries hear an enticing rumor: somewhere, abandoned in the swirling desert sands, lies an abandoned Republican Guard convoy containing millions of pounds of Saddam's gold.  They form an unlikely crew of battle-scarred privateers, killers and thieves, veterans of a dozen war zones, each of them anxious to make one last score before their luck runs out. 

After liberating the sole surviving Guard member from US capture, the team makes their way to the ancient ruins where the convoy was last seen.  Although all seems eerily quiet and deserted when they arrive, they soon find themselves caught in a desperate battle for their lives, confronted by greed, betrayal, and an army that won't stay dead.

An unputdownable military thriller that SFFworld.com called "Three Kings meets The Walking Dead,” Juggernaut is a heart-pounding, fast-paced read that doesn’t let up until the last page. - from Amazon.com

I originally thought this was a stand alone novel by Baker, but realized it is sort of a prequel to his other novel, OUTPOST. I didn't realize the connection until I was about a good third into the book. It started out well, gathering a group of mercs, and sending them on a mission to find a hidden cache of gold. Really? Needless to say, it was little better than I expected. I did finish the second half of the book, just because I wanted to see how it tied into OUTPOST. Baker's next book, TERMINUS, I hope is much better.

Book Review: "Outpost" by Adam Baker

They took the job to escape the world They didn't expect the world to end. Kasker Rampart: a derelict refinery platform moored in the Arctic Ocean. A skeleton crew of fifteen fight boredom and despair as they wait for a relief ship to take them home. But the world beyond their frozen wasteland has gone to hell. Cities lie ravaged by a global pandemic. One by one TV channels die, replaced by silent wavebands. The Rampart crew are marooned. They must survive the long Arctic winter, then make their way home alone. They battle starvation and hypothermia, unaware that the deadly contagion that has devastated the world is heading their way... - from Amazon.com

This is not your normal 'survival of the end of the world' type of story. It centers around six characters of a crew on a derelict oil rig in the Artic Circle, and tells of how they survive being stranded on the rig as some sort of world-wide epidemic runs rampant. There is no explanation of the epidemic, but leaves the body to become what many would call zombie-like, but not exactly what we consider zombies. Great easy reading story, that Baker takes in some unexpected directions, leaving an ending that I would not have guessed. Great action, captures some of the emotion that solitude could bring out in a person, and the need to fight on at all costs for life.

Book Review: "Dad Is Fat" by Jim Gaffigan

In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who’s best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald's, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children—everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to toddlers’ communication skills (“they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news”), to the eating habits of four year olds (“there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor”). Reminiscent of Bill Cosby’s Fatherhood, Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home. - from Amazon.com

What can I say about this book? I didn't finish it. I read several sections/chapters, and just could not understand why he was writing this book. I have seen several comedic clips on YouTube of Gaffigan, and found them somewhat funny (some better than others) but his humor didn't seem to carry over to the written word. I felt the book was more like a slight memoir for his kids to read, as only they could understand the stories he was sharing. Either that, or my humor level is WAYYY different, because, I too have kids.

Book Review: "Paladins of Shannara: The Black Irix" by Terry Brooks

An old friend urges Shea Ohmsford to take a dangerous risk in the concluding story of this gripping Shannara eBook series by New York Times bestselling fantasy master Terry Brooks.
 
Shea Ohmsford has had quite enough of quests. A year after surviving a harrowing odyssey, he is still plagued by troubling memories and dreams. A mysterious trafficker in spells and potions provides a restorative nostrum for the stricken Shea . . . along with a warning: Shea will break his vow to never again leave Shady Vale. And then the potion-maker’s prophecy comes to pass.
 
A thief, adventurer, and notoriously charismatic rogue, Panamon Creel unexpectedly appears in the Vale with a request for his longtime friend, Shea—journey into the untamed northland, infiltrate the stronghold of a sinister dealer in stolen goods, and capture a precious artifact: the sacred Black Irix. Creel wishes to return this treasure to its rightful owners. Shea cannot refuse such a just cause. But what lies behind the black castle walls they must breach? And will this quest truly be their last?
 
Includes a preview of the final novel in Terry Brooks’s Dark Legacy of Shannara trilogy, Witch Wraith! - from Amazon.com

This is a third book in the short story series Brooks has of the Paladins of Shannara. As with the other two, he returns to tell a small tale of some of the characters from different spots on the timeline. This particular one is about Shea Ohmsford.

It has been many years since I read the earlier trilogies of Shannara, and thus I am not able to recall every character/specific event from them, but this short return was a nice read. As Terry Brooks has admitted in other places, his short story delivery lacks the quality he has in the novels, and this is no exception. I felt the style of descriptives Brooks uses was missing here, and made this feel more like a marketing ploy. Which could be the case since the third book of the Dark Legacy series is due out in July (I think), and each of these Paladin stories has preceded each book. Overall this one felt a bit rushed, and seemed shorter than the previous two ebooks. 

Book Review: "King of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence

In Book One of the Broken Empire, Mark Lawrence brought to life the “morbidly gripping”* (Publishers Weekly) story of a boy in search of power and vengeance. Now, in King of Thorns, that boy’s journey into manhood takes him to the dark depths waiting within his soul…
The boy who would be King has gained the throne... 

Prince Honorious Jorg Ancrath vowed when he was nine to avenge his slaughtered mother and brother—and punish his father for not doing so. When he was fifteen, he began to fulfill that vow. Now he is eighteen—and he must hold on by strength of arms to what he took by torture and treachery. 

King Jorg is a man haunted: by the ghost of a young boy, by a mysterious copper box, by his desire for the woman who rides with his enemy. Plagued by nightmares of the atrocities he committed, and of the atrocities committed against him when he was a child, he is filled with rage. And even as his need for revenge continues to consume him, twenty thousand men march toward the gates of his castle. His enemy is far stronger than him. Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. 

But he has found, in a chamber hidden beneath the castle, ancient and long-lost artifacts. Some might call them magic. Jorg is not certain—all he knows is that the secrets they hold can be put to terrible use in the coming battle... - from Amazon.com

This is the second book in The Broken Empire series, and continues the story of Jorg. It is now four years later than the first book, and finds Jorg getting married. On his actual wedding day, he is also under attack from the Prince of Arrow. Most of the book covers events that happened four years prior, where the first book left off. These events not only build a more defined character in Jorg, but many events that lead up to the current time.

I enjoyed reading this book a bit more than the first one, I think because things were explained in additional detail. Events take place in a post-apocalyptic world, with portions of what I consider our technological age (and a bit further than us) that still exist and can be used. Lawrence has added in what I consider to be mutations, in that "magic" can be used. Otherwise, it is a return to the medieval times as far as armor and weapons. Jorg is a character I have enjoyed learning of, through the past events of his life that made him the ruthless and bloody leader he is. Looking forward to the next installment in the series!